The Stockholm Syndrome has been defined by the American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language 5th Edition as “A psychological syndrome in which a person being held captive begins to identify with and grow sympathetic to his or her captor, while simultaneously becoming unsympathetic towards the police or other authorities that try to come to their rescue.”Our first national hero, the Right Excellent Marcus Garvey, sacrificed himself trying to uplift and improve the conditions for the Black race, those at home and those abroad, but I may have to concede that the vast majority of the Black race has accepted the fact that the race is indeed inferior and have given up the fight for liberation.It appears that this attitude comes from the attitude of the Black leaders both in Africa and the Diaspora for the most part; Black leadership seems to be caught up in the throes of a mental condition that has been called the ‘Stockholm Syndrome’.The term ‘leadership’ refers mainly to those in politics, the public and private sectors, and those in academia. It seems fair to say that if most African and Diasporic leaders are suffering from this psychological syndrome, then it could imply that their followers are also not well mentally.Copious research informs that the Jews and the Arabs have worked against the Black race for hundreds of years and are responsible for the Black race being in its deep, dark and untenable position even up to this, the 21st century. However, truth is truth regardless of where it may originate.In an excerpt from an interview with a Jewish leader that was shared by Osaze Osemwegie on social media, an interviewer asked a Jewish leader why he thought Blacks lagged so far behind the other races economically. The Jewish leader replied that the only aspect of life Black people understand is how to consume — or simply stated how to ‘shop till you drop’ and that almost none of the shops are owned by Black people.The Jewish leader went on to say that Black people don’t understand the importance of building wealth. These two statements are lies based on the achievements of this great Black man, Marcus Mosiah Garvey. His achievements are too numerous to list, but information is available for those who seek it.So what makes it appear that current Black leadership in Africa and the Diaspora is caught up in this mental condition? One of the sources cited is a book written by Joseph Carver that has a most interesting title ‘Love and the Stockholm Syndrome: The Mystery of Loving an Abuser.’Although said to be rare, basically it is when people are placed in a situation where all their values, beliefs and morals change in some way. So small acts of kindness that the captors or oppressors show to their victims, hostages, slaves or others held in bondage, prompts a “primitive gratitude for the gift” and as a result of this gratitude, the hostage, slave or captive experiences a powerful, primitive positive feeling towards their captor, owner, oppressor and even employer. These persons feel “privileged” to be chosen to receive the acts of kindness and enter into a state of denial and refuse to accept that this is the person who caused them to be in the state of capture or bondage in the first place.Natacha Kampusch, who was kidnapped at age 10 and held in captivity for 10 years, said in a 2010 interview with The Guardian newspaper, that she rejects the label ‘Stockholm Syndrome’, explaining that it doesn’t take into account the rational choices people make in particular situations. Her words were, “I find it very natural that you would adapt yourself to identify with your kidnapper, especially if you spend a great deal of time with that person. It’s about empathy and communication.” She went on to say that “Looking for normality within the framework of a crime is not a syndrome. It’s a survival strategy.”In projecting her statements on to the Black race it seems that she has a very big point, in that the majority of the Black race, during the time of chattel-slavery to our present and still awful condition for millions, was never in close contact with their captors or oppressors and so never developed any love or sympathy for their oppressors. However, the few Blacks ‘chosen’ to be among them must have felt as Kampusch did, and these became known as the ‘house-slaves’ — currently called ‘tokens’.This probably can explain why our current Black tokens in leadership positions in politics, public, the private sector, academia — and we can add entertainers and sports personalities — are so scared to identify with anyone such as Marcus Garvey, Kwame Nkrumah, or organizations like the Pan African Movement; the African Union; Marcus Garvey’s organization, the UNIA; and the New Black Panther Movement, among other groups. And they also seem to be doubly scared of the Nation of Islam.According to the revelations contained in the so-called Stockholm Syndrome, the chosen Black leaders and tokens appear to be experiencing the ‘primitive gratitude for the gift’ of the good life and so will be eternally grateful for their positions, jobs, opportunities to excel academically and economically and therefore do not want anyone or anything to upset their “apple cart.” They are now in a class above all other Blacks and will defend this status, even if it means they have to betray their race and become spies and secret agents for their captors and benefactors.

​In the book ‘The Philosophy and Opinions of Marcus Garvey’, compiled by his second wife, Amy Jacques Garvey, our national hero said that the traitors of the other races are generally confined to the mediocre or irresponsible individual. Unfortunately, the traitors among the Black race are generally found among the Black men highest placed in education and society and who call themselves ‘leaders.’ He went on to teach the entire race by saying that not until we settle down as 400 million people and let the men who have placed themselves in the lead, realize that we are disgusted and dissatisfied and that we shall have a leadership of our own and stick by it, and when we get that leadership, we will be able to lift ourselves from this mire of degradation to the heights of prosperity, human liberty and human appreciation.——————————--Valerie Dixon is the Lady President of the founding Chapter of the UNIA-ACL, Kingston/Manchester, Jamaica. She can be reached at: Valeriecdixon1@gmail.com

Our Founder, the Right Excellent Marcus Mosiah Garvey delineates the ethical basis for reparations and repatriation in the following excerpt from a speech made circa 1919:

"I do not see why the world should be worried about the UNIA and worried about Marcus Garvey. If the world hasn't done anything wrong to Negroes, why should it be worried about the activities of Negroes. We are too considerate of other people’s happiness to go out of our way to create disturbance.

Therefore, the world of honest people need not be afraid of us; but if there are any dishonest people in the world, who have held or who are holding what is belonging to other folks – if they have anything belonging to Negroes, naturally they will be disturbed because Negroes are going after those things.​America claims she has nothing for us; England says she has nothing for us; France says so and the different European governments say they have nothing for us… but we have decided we have something for ourselves – that we possess something of ourselves and we have understood that somebody has been keeping it for us.

Now, we are just about thanking them for in being so good in keeping that which was belonging to us and we are just asking them to cease their kindness for a while and hand over to us what is belonging to us. If somebody gave you something to keep for me and you are honest, when I approach you, you will give it to me.They said we were heathens, we were pagans, we were savages and did not know how to take care of ourselves; that we did not have any religion; we did not have any culture; we did not have any civilization for all those centuries and that is why they had to be our guardians.

But, thank God we have them all now, as such we are asking that you hand back to us "our own civilization." Hand back to us that which you have robbed and exploited us of in the name of God and Christianity for the last 500 years.​We are asking England to hand it back; we are asking France to hand it back; we are asking Italy to hand it back; we are asking Belgium to hand it back; we are asking Portugal to hand it back; we are asking Spain to hand it back, and by God, the Moroccans made them hand it back. And if you will not hear the voice of a friend crying out in the wilderness to hand back those things, then, remember, one day you will find, marching down the avenue of time, 400,000,000 Black men and women ready to give up even the last drop of their blood for the redemption of their motherland, Africa!"

Those of us who are blazing the way in this propaganda of the Universal Negro Improvement Association to enlighten our people everywhere are at times very much annoyed and discouraged by the acts of our own people in that consciously or unconsciously they do so many things to hurt our deeper feeling of loyalty and love for the race. But what can we do? Can we forsake them because they hurt our feelings? Surely not. Painful though it may be to be interfered with and handicapped in the performance of the higher sense of duty, yet we must, martyrlike, make up our minds and our hearts to pay the price of leadership.

We must be sympathetic, we must be forgiving, we must really have forbearance, so that when the ignorant and illiterate fellow who happens to be a member of your own race stands up to block the passage of some cause that you believe would be to his benefit and to yours as a people you will be able to overlook him, even though he fosters his opposition with the greatest amount of insult to your intelligence and to your dignity.

The excuse that some our most brilliant men give for not identifying themselves with race movements is, that they cannot tolerate the interference of the illiterate Negro, who, being a member if the same organization will attempt to dictate what you should do in the interest of the race, when his act is based upon no deeper judgment that his like or dislike for the person he is opposing, or the satisfaction it would give him to embarrass the person he feels like opposing. Many an able leader is lost to his race because of this fear, and sometimes we must admit the reasonableness of this argument; but as I have said leadership means giving up one's personality, giving up of everything for the cause that is worth while.

It is only because of that feeling that I personally continue to lead the Universal Negro Improvement Association, because like every other leader, I have had to encounter the opposition, the jealousy, the plotting of men who take advantage of the situation, simply because they happen to be members of the organization, and that we may have to depend upon their vote one way or the other for the good of the cause. Not that some of us care one row of pins about what the other fellow thinks, but when it is considered that we can only achieve success through harmony and unity, then it can be realized how much he has to sacrifice as a leader for getting that harmony that is necessary to bring about the results that are desired. Excerpt taken from Africa for the Africans published in 1923.

AFRICA'S WEALTH by Marcus Garvey Excerpt taken from an article originally published in the Negro World on April 18, 1923. Africa today is the biggest game in the hunt of nations and races. Africa today is regarded, as I have always said, as the richest spot in the world, to be exploited by those who are keen enough and appreciative enough to invest their money and their interests in the development of that continent.

An open appeal is now being made to the capitalists of different countries to invest in the exploitation of the oil fields, diamond, gold, and iron mines of the "Old Homeland". This means that in a short time Africa will become the centre of the world's commercial activities, at which time the black man will naturally be relegated to his accustomed place of being the "under-dog" of the New African civilization. This is about to happen in the face of a highly-developed Negro civilization in the Western world, wherein men of the Negro race seek the same opportunities in things economic as the other races of the world.

Let us a Negroes, prepare ourselves throughout the world for the conflict that is bound to ensue between the rivaling forces for the ultimate domination of our country- Africa. For we are not going to give up easily, and allow these European intruders to rob, exploit and dominate the land of our Fathers.

If the oil of Africa was good for Rockefeller's interest; if iron ore was good for the Carnegie Trust; then surely these minerals are good for us. Why should we allow Wall Street and the capitalists group of America and other countries to exploit our country when they refuse to give us a fair chance in the countries of our adoption? Why should not Africa give to the world its black Rockfeller, Rothschild, and Henry Ford? Now is the opportunity. Now is the chance for every Negro to make every effort toward a commercial, industrial standard that will make us comparable with the successful business men of other races.

Africa invites capital to develop its resources. Let not that capital, whether it be financial or man-power, be supplied by others, but let Negroes make our own contribution. It is our duty to guard against the tricky exploiters of the world who have been deceiving and robbing Africa of her possessions.

by Marcus Garvey

It is so hard, so difficult to find men who will stick to a purpose, who will maintain a principle for the worth of that principle, for the good of that purpose, and if there is a race that needs such men in the world today, God Almighty knows it is the race of which I am a member.

The race needs men of vision and ability. Men of character and above all, men of honesty, and that is so hard to find. The greatest stumbling block in the way of progress in the race has invariably come from within the race itself. The monkey wrench of destruction as thrown into the cog of Negro Progress, is not thrown so much by the outsider as by the very fellow who is in our fold, and who should be the first to grease the wheel of progress rather than seeking to impede it.

But notwithstanding the lack of sympathetic co-operation, I have one consolation - That I cannot get away from the race, and so long as I am in the race and since I have sense and judgment enough to know what affects the race affects me, it is my duty to help the race to clear itself of those things that affect us in common.

Excerpt taken from The Philosophies & Opinions of Marcus Garvey compiled by Amy Jacques Garvey. Issue #12 from www.negroworld.com